Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock Position Lifted by Brookstone Capital Management

Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 386,661 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 13,242 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $15,463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 78,026 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $3,120,000 after purchasing an additional 1,251 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 25,583 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,023,000 after buying an additional 6,059 shares during the last quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 30,671 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,227,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,762 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 1,669 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 912,730 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $36,500,000 after acquiring an additional 55,206 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock traded up $0.28 during trading on Monday, hitting $38.09. The company had a trading volume of 19,712,201 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,754,422. The business has a 50 day moving average of $41.23 and a 200 day moving average of $41.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.11%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).